The natural one.

Tag: Rondel

When I was young I had a marble collection. Now I’m older, and I still like to collect marble… only now it’s marble made of wood. And it spins. On a disc. And it comes in a variety of colours and values. You use it to construct buildings in this game… this game that I just can’t stop talking about. Let me tell you about it!

In The Palaces Of Carrara, players spend their turns performing exactly one action. You’re either collecting marble, building buildings, or scoring. Sounds easy, right? That’s what I said too! Not so fast, Vitruvius.

“To eat figs off the tree in the very early morning, when they have been barely touched by the sun, is one of the exquisite pleasures of the Mediterranean.”― Elizabeth David

When I started in this hobby a couple of years ago, I had some gaming under my belt already. I’d been down the RPG path. I’d played a little Magic on the hallway floors of my highschool, but board games? Like… Risk? Clue?

I was yet to be indoctrinated in the ways of Euro boardgaming when I strolled into Snakes & Lattes in Toronto for the first time. This was a new world. When my wife and I sat down with her brother from British Columbia, we played Carcassonne, Tsuro, and then we asked the local guru what else we should play. He recommended Finca. We played it, and I bought it the same day.